A Weird Interlude Becomes Bliss

When you go to a play, the playbill typically gives a cast of characters. I'm plagiarizing that approach here.

I'm Bradley Braddock Brady (apparently my mother loved alliteration), known only as "Brad" to all my friends and co-workers, and any male that doesn't think that he can kick the shit out of me. The only facts relevant to this story are that I was the light heavyweight state wrestling champion my senior year in High School and started college on a wrestling scholarship. My freshmen year at State, however, I grew three inches and gained twenty five pounds so I no longer had any realistic possibility of wrestling light heavyweight in college (the college light heavyweight maximum weight is 197 pounds, only three pounds more than in High School and I even had trouble making weight in High School when I was naturally twenty five pounds lighter). At 6 foot 3 inches 225 pounds in college I was the lightest heavyweight around. After going 8-12 as a heavyweight I gave up wrestling and graduated with honors from the business school, having also taken basic courses in civil engineering - an unusual combination. I'm the same size now as in college, and work as a construction supervisor for large building projects. I love doing physical labor in addition to using my brain, and I find it both intimidating and morale-boosting when my virtually all male crews know that I'm stronger than almost all of them and not afraid to get my hands dirty.

At the start of this tale, Melissa Minton was my wife of five years; we married a year after we graduated from college. She didn't take my name when we got married, which was no big deal to me since I felt that I was marrying above myself in at least the looks department. Melissa is a big, strong-willed, independent, smart, successful woman who is sexy as hell and knows it. She works as a high-level financial analyst.

James "Jimmy" Walters was my best friend from High School, the same age as I am. He was state runner-up in wrestling at 165 pounds his senior year. He went to a small college on a wrestling scholarship and wrestled all four years there and graduated with a degree in business administration. We remained close even though at different colleges by daily texts, weekly phone calls, and constantly doing things together during breaks. Even after we graduated, despite the fact that I moved from our home town to a city 400 miles away, we communicated weekly and met (often with wives after we both married) at least twice a year. Jimmy left his family's business about a year after he got married - much to their consternation - and worked as a salesman for hi-tech products, eventually servicing a four state area.

Charlene Walters nee Simpson was Jimmy's wife of about three years at the start of this tale. Charlene is petite, kind, pretty, smart, and shapely - however she is the opposite of Melissa in personality. She has little self-confidence, doesn't realize how attractive she is, and is weak-willed. She worked as a bank teller. I know that Jimmy's travelling was hard on Charlene because she was so devoted to and dependent upon Jimmy, but several times Jimmy eagerly told me "The reunion sex when I get home makes it all worthwhile!"

*****************

The relationships between the main characters and their families are complex.

I have always detested Jimmy's family. In school his two older brothers (Billy and Bobby - his family apparently has a thing for nicknames ending in "y") would bully anyone they could. Fortunately they were only about 160 pounds so they couldn't bully everyone, and they never even tried bullying me because at fourteen I was bigger than they were. Jimmy's father Jake is a moronic jackass, and his mother Jean may be the meanest woman that I have ever met. I never could figure out how a truly nice, considerate, likeable, popular, smart guy like Jimmy could come from that pack of assholes. I always wondered how Charlene could function with them as her in-laws. In my discussions with Jimmy it was clear to me that he stopped working in the family business because he got sick of his family, and especially the way that they treated Charlene.

Melissa seemed to like Jimmy - or at least didn't dislike him - and though she was polite to Charlene didn't have any respect for Charlene because she was too wimpy for her, given Melissa's strong personality. Melissa was close to her family, especially her father, who was a successful businessman in the city that we lived in. Her father respected me, but never actually liked me, because I stood up to him and took none of the shit that he seemed to like to give out to everyone around him, except for Melissa.

Charlene had no local family, and her parents are as non-confrontational as she is. I really liked Charlene from the moment that I met her, and she seemed to really like me. Jimmy told me on several occasions that he was happy that his best long term friend and wife got along so well.

I fell in love with Melissa not just because of her looks, but because she is a strong independent person. Growing up I always liked strong women; or at least I thought that I did. Sex with her was always good, but I found that it was best when I let her be in charge physically because she seemed to enjoy it more - and also was more concerned with my enjoyment - when that was the situation. However, as our married life progressed I found out that this particular strong-willed woman (I trust that it is not true of all, or even most) had as her priorities herself, then her job, and then me; and that she had little patience for people that she didn't feel were up to her standards. She also was not as accommodating in sexual frequency as I liked - but there would be hell to pay if I ever turned her down.

Being busy with work, trying to both stand up to Melissa and get her in the sack as many times as possible, and in general being an even-keeled guy, I never seriously questioned how happy I was in life. Then a bewildering interlude changed that.

***************

I got the call on my cell phone at work about 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon. I answered it only because the Caller ID said that it was from Jimmy's land line. It wasn't Jimmy though - it was Charlene's mother.

"Hello, Brad," a voice that I didn't immediately recognize reverberated in my earpiece.

"Yes, this is Brad. Who's this?" I responded.

"Uh...this is Cindy Simpson - Charlene's mom. Uh...we met once or twice..." came next.

"Hi Cindy, I remember you," I politely replied, trying to figure out why she would be calling me, let alone from Jimmy's land line.

"Uh...Brad; I have bad news. Jimmy was killed in an auto accident in another state last night after visiting a customer. Charlene is having a really hard time holding it together, and she's afraid of her in-laws. Uh...could...you...uh...possibly come to visit and help Charlene get things in place to follow Jimmy's will and wishes?" Cindy hesitantly asked.

A feeling of primitive protectiveness suddenly overcame me; it actually caused me to exhale quickly because I had never felt something exactly like it before. I regained clarity when Cindy asked "Uh...are you still there Brad?"

"Yes - sorry, Cindy. I was just thinking about how quickly I could get there. Tell Charlene that I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon at the latest," I got out.

"Thank you so much, Brad - Charlene will be so happy," Cindy replied, then we mutually terminated the call.

I suddenly had as much clarity of thought as I ever had. I immediately sounded the horn on the jobsite calling all employees together, and once they were all assembled fifteen minutes later I laid things out for them.

"Because of a family emergency, I'm likely to be gone the next week or so. Jason is in charge. I'm telling him right now, in front of you guys - and gals - that when I get back he is to report to me any lax behavior, any lack of cooperation, and any 'attitude.' I can guarantee you that if I receive a report about anyone your ass will be grass. We have a realistic schedule of what needs to be completed in the next ten days up on the job board, and barring a hurricane or earthquake you better be on schedule when I get back. Any questions?" I barked.

I walked among the fifty person crew, looking each person in the eye, and repeated "any questions" five or six times. Everyone shook their head "No."

"If you're all good little boys and girls when I get back pizza and beer are on me; work's over for the day, pack up," I said, then turned and left.

On my way home I called the owner of the construction company. He was often prickly, and loved to posture, however he was basically a decent guy when it came down to it. I was the only one in the company who called him by his first name.

Once his secretary got him on the line I got right to the point. "Tom, I've had an emergency come up and will be gone the next week to ten days. We're at a good point in the project, and I've made it clear to Jason and the entire crew that they'll be on schedule when I get back or there will be hell to pay."

"Isn't this a bad time in the project?" Tom asked.

"Actually, it's a good time; we're thirteen days ahead of the real schedule - the schedule I have on the job board is one I made up to have some wiggle room. Besides, this is really important to me," I replied.

"Well...still..." he started to say.

"Tom; stop! I wasn't asking your permission. You're the big boss, but I've been a model employee and you need me. I'm calling you just to tell you what's happening; your only options are to say 'I hope everything works out for you,' or to fire me," I retorted, probably with a little more volume and harshness in my voice than I intended.

After about a ten second delay Tom said "I hope everything works out for you Brad, and let me know when you get back."

"I will - and I'll be in touch with Jason by phone every morning so if you need to contact me tell him and I'll call you." With that I terminated the call.

*********************

Melissa wasn't real happy with the situation when I told her - after my suitcase was packed and my plane reservation for the next morning made - when she got home from work. She started to give me a little attitude saying something about how Charlene needed to get some backbone and work out her own problems, which irritated the hell out of me. I snapped.

"Where in the fuck do you get off criticizing Charlene when her husband just died, and when you don't know Jimmy's asshole family like I do. I'm going and I'll stay as long as necessary. If you don't like it, lump it!" I snarled.

While I had had to put Melissa in her place times in the past, I never had as forcefully as this. She wisely backed down.

"OK...OK...don't get your panties in a bunch," was her soft-pedalled reply. "I know how much Jimmy meant to you, and that you want to do the right thing by him. I'll cope."

My approach immediately softened. "Thanks, I appreciate that," I responded. "Let's go out to dinner at Charley's," her favorite casual restaurant, and one that she knew that I only tolerated because she liked it.

That night Melissa gave me a very energetic (vigorous even) goodbye fuck. Of course she was in charge, but as I said when she was she tried harder to please me, so I wasn't complaining.

*****************

When I got to Charlene's house in my rental car about 1 p. m. the next day things were worse than I thought. Cindy was kind of shell-shocked and Charlene was crying, not only because of Jimmy's untimely death but because his bully brothers Billy and Bobby had been there blaming her for his death because he was travelling on a job she wanted him to take and had caused him to leave the family business, and demanding that she produce a copy of the will for them when they returned that night. They even laid their hands on her.

I held Charlene in my arms until she cried herself out, assuring her and Cindy that I'd take care of everything, and they had nothing to fear from the Walters family.

Once Charlene went for a nap - she had been up all night - I talked to Cindy and reassured her that I had things under control so that she could go home to her very sick husband - as if Jimmy's death wasn't enough Cindy's husband/Charlene's father had just been diagnosed with cancer, although it was caught at an early stage. She thanked me profusely and left.

Charlene got up about five p. m. By then I had reviewed all of Jimmy's papers, and was pleased that I was co-executor of his will, with Charlene. Apparently Jimmy realized that she'd need his help. I was also pleased that his company had a $1,000,000 key man life insurance policy on him payable to them, and $750,000 of life insurance payable to Charlene.

After I got some food into Charlene, she gave me more details about the first encounter with the Walters assholes. I assured her that there would be no problem when they returned, and I changed into hiking boots, loose slacks, and a tight shirt, and put on tight gloves.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Charlene asked, somewhat perplexed.

"You'll see," I smiled. "By the way, have your iPhone ready. If and when the Walters come back I want you to video what happens.

Charlene and I were going over some papers when about 6 p. m. the Walters came bursting into the house - they didn't even knock. The entire crew was there, Billy, Bobby, Jake and Jean.

I rose to full height, clenched my fists, and snarled "What the fuck are you assholes doing here - and trespassing without the courtesy of even a knock."

They were taken a little aback, but since they were together Billy got a little bravado and said "This don't concern you Brad; butt out - we need to see Jimmy's papers."

"You're the ones that are going to butt out Billy-boy. I'm co-executor with Charlene of Jimmy's estate and we don't need your help. I'm telling you for the second and last time get the fuck out of here," I roared.

"We're not leaving until we get what we want," an energized Bobby said quickly coming up to me and pushing me aside - or at least trying to.

Once he made the first contact I hit him under the chin with my elbow with maybe the hardest blow that I had ever landed on anyone in my life. He was out cold by the time that he hit the floor. Billy stupidly swung and me and I blocked his pathetic punch, grabbed and stepped over his arm, and broke it at the elbow.

As Billy cried out in pain on his knees I turned to Jake and Jean. "Get your asshole kids out of here in one minute or I throw you out and I won't be gentle about it."

They apparently had gotten religion because I know that mean Jean wanted to say something, but held her tongue. She helped Billy out, and Jake dragged Bobby until he woke up, and then helped him up and out.

When I turned to look at Charlene she was white as a ghost, but as instructed had her iPhone in her hand and obviously had recorded the entire incident. After the door closed, however, she got the first smile of the visit on her face and said "Thank you Brad," and gave me a hug.

About a half hour later there was a knock at the door. I answered it. There were two of our town's finest, a male and a female. The male cop, Roland Hooper, I knew well from high school. He was our football team's defensive star, an All-State defensive tackle a year older than I was. I was a mediocre linebacker but playing behind Roland I looked All-Conference. I got my lunch handed to me, however, when Roland graduated and his replacement was as mediocre as I was.

"Hi Brad, long time no-see," he greeted me in his deep baritone voice.

"Roland," I chuckled, "you're a sight for sore eyes," I replied as we gave each other a mutual "manly" embrace.

"You look like you lost weight since our High School days," I snickered.

"Yep - I don't need to be 290 at this job - I'm down to 247, and never felt better," he snickered right back. "You look bigger than in High School,."

"Yeah, I grew three inches in college."

We shot the shit for a few minutes more then he introduced me to his partner. "Brad, this is my partner, Corporal Judy Getty," he said.

"Nice to meet you," Judy and I said to each other as we shook hands. She had a grip like a man. She was nice looking - she really filled out that police uniform well - but there was no doubt that she was tough too.

"I hope that Roland's nice to you," I chuckled at her.

"If he isn't I'll kick his butt," she replied with a smirk, getting a belly-laugh from Roland. I didn't know anyone who could kick Roland's ass.

"Listen, Brad, we're not here on a social call; we're here because the Walters are insisting on filing an assault complaint against you, so I want to hear from you. I need to do my job," Roland said, now serious.

"Of course you do; come on in Roland and Judy," I said, opening up the door.

I introduced them to Charlene, asked Charlene to explain the first encounter with Billy and Bobby, and then told them exactly what happened. Charlene confirmed it, and I then showed them her iPhone video.

"You know what bullies Billy and Bobby are from High School, and except for the fact that they've both put on 25 pounds of ugly fat, they haven't changed," I said to Roland.

That got another belly laugh from him.

Charlene emailed the video to Judy, and as they left Roland told me "I'll make sure that the sergeant tells them that they are to stay away from Charlene, period, and I can assure you that no assault charges will be filed; unless you want to file one, that is?"

"Thanks Roland; their humiliation is enough for me, I don't need to file my own charges," I replied, giving him another "manly" hug, and said "Nice to meet you Judy, and good luck keeping the best defensive tackle in state history in line," as they left with another belly laugh from Roland and a chuckle from Judy.

While Charlene did OK while Roland and Judy were at her house, once they left she broke down again. I held her as we talked, mostly about the good times with Jimmy. Before we knew it it was about 11 p. m., and her eyes were getting heavy.

"Charlene, I think that you need some sleep."

"Uh...OK...but Brad; I have a really big favor to ask of you. Will you sleep with me tonight...I just...can't...be...alone..." she got out before she completely dissolved into tears.

That really wasn't what I wanted, but I was actually afraid for her mental health and I thought that was better than going to a doctor or the Hospital Emergency Room if she had a nervous breakdown.

We showered in separate bathrooms, and I put on a clean T-shirt and boxers to sleep in since I don't even own a pair of pajamas so I couldn't have brought them with me. Unfortunately I got a glimpse of Charlene's naked body as she was putting on her old-woman nightgown in the master bathroom. Charlene always dressed conservatively, and I had never even seen her in a one piece bathing suit. Although it appeared that she had a nice body I couldn't be sure - until I got that glimpse. Her body was more than nice - it was spectacular.

"Down boy," I angrily said to my insubordinate cock as it started to salute.

As we snuggled together in bed with Charlene's head on my shoulder, she mumbled "Thank you so much for coming, Brad. Jimmy said that if anything ever happened to him that you'd take good care of me, and I'm so, so grateful."

"I'm happy to help, and I will take good care of you," I mumbled in return.

The strangest feeling came over me. I felt like a member of the Justice League, protecting the world from evil, with more feelings of solicitousness toward Charlene than I had ever experienced before in my life.

I was very pleased when Charlene was lightly snoring in less than a minute - she must really have been exhausted, emotionally and physically. I must have been too, because that was the last thing I consciously thought until 8 a. m. the next morning. I tried to get out of bed without waking Charlene, but she woke up, smiled at me, and said "Thank you Brad - I really slept well and only because of your love."